American Civil War - (em)The Liberator(/em)

Boston was the center of American
antislavery activity. It was also the home of The Liberator,
a newspaper started by William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison was
only 26 years old at the time, but had already worked at various
newspapers in the North. To him, none of the newspapers he had
worked at were clear about their position on slavery. Garrison
wanted to be very clear.

His newspaper was dedicated to the cause of the
abolitionists, people who thought slavery should be abolished forever. Garrison
most definitely was an abolitionist himself. In his very first issue, Garrison
said, "I will not excuse - I will not retreat a single inch - AND I WILL BE
HEARD." Although he needed people to buy his newspaper to keep it going,
he freely gave copies to any person of color who wanted one. In just a few
years, Garrison was printing over 2,000 copies of his newspaper each week. Most
copies were free, but he did have a few hundred paid subscriptions. He received
donations. The Liberator never made any money, but it made a great deal
of difference.

Garrison used his newspaper to campaign for Indian
rights and women's rights. His major campaign, during 30 years of publication,
was for the right of all people to be free of the shackles of slavery. Garrison
relentlessly attacked church and government for not doing more to help the cause
of enslaved people. He ran cautions in his newspaper, warning people of color to
beware of kidnappers and slave catchers, who had been sent to Boston to bring
back fugitive slaves. He explained the police had no choice but to arrest
runaway slaves, because that was the law, and advised people of color to avoid
conversations with the police.

The editors of Southern newspapers wrote nasty
articles in their newspapers about The Liberator. Moderate
abolitionists talked to him about perhaps softening his comments a bit; they
were concerned his newspaper would anger people, which would not help their
cuase. Garrison ignored them. He remained fiesty, blunt, informative, and heard!
He retired at the age of 60, and printed his last weekly in December 1865. That
was the year the Civil War was over. And it was the year Congress passed the
13th Amendment, ending slavery forever.